I am directed to refer to this office letters No. A-34012/02/2011-DE and No. A-34012/04/2011-DE dated 26.04.2011 wherein the dates of Examination were notified as 4th September 2011 for LGO and 3rd & 4th September 2011 for Inspector of Posts.

2. It is informed that the above mentioned two Examinations have been postponed until further orders. The dates of both the Examinations will be intimated very soon. Please inform all concern candidates.

With reference to your above cited letters the following note is submitted.

The following is the note submitted by our Federation regarding the issues related to MNOP to be discussed in the Committee constituted by the Directorate as a fall out of the negotiations held on June-July, 2011:

The Department has not supplied the original recommendations of the consultancy agency McKinsey on the issue of changes warranted from the existing system of sorting and mail conveyance done by RMS and the rationale behind the changes.

This Federation having access to some RTI materials on related issues is of the opinion that the Postal Board, which is the top policy making body of administration, has notdebated in any Board meeting about the recommendations of McKinsey and not reached any consensus decision on their implementation. We learn that such a serious issue involving structural changes of RMS was directly placed in a meeting of Circle Heads where some of the Board Members were also present. The Board Members would not have the opportunity to open their minds on many issues in such a meeting because of the presence of many other officers due to protocol etc.Even all the Chief PMsG was not apparently participated in that meeting. A meeting of Postal Board would have been the place for the Postal Board Members to discuss their views. We therefore apprehend that the decision taken about implementation of McKinsey recommendations on MNOP was autocratic without backed by the Postal Board decisions to that effect. If our above contention is wrong then this Federation may kindly be supplied with the materials substantiating the claim of the Department.

This Federation also further learns that the MNOP project may lead to a further erosion of traffic including speed post articles in the long run, if not with immediate effect for the reason that the new system is not scientifically analysed for its success. The Staff Side is not supplied with any material by the Department about the results obtained by the Department through any Pilot Project undertaken on the lines of MNOP. With our field level observations, we can cite the under-mentioned discrepancies or draw backs in MNOP:

[a] Areas involving Metro and Non-Metro areas: Transmission of speed post articles from Metro to Non-Metro areasas well as Non-Metro areas to Metro Cities suffer additional delay because of unwarranted additional handling by the Hubs. For example, a Speed Post Article posted in New Delhi GPO and meant for delivery at Dindigul HPO [Tamilnadu] was earlier sent to Palam APTMO and then to Chennai APTMO. Chennai APTMO closed the bag directly to Dindigul HPO. Similarly a speed post letter posted at Dindigul HPO and intended for delivery at New Delhi HPO was sent to Dindigul RMS, which closed it to Chennai AP TMO. Chennai APTMO closed it to Palem APTMO, which sent it to New Delhi GPO. In the whole process it was normally expected to be delivered on D+2 basis. Now with the introduction of Hub System, the same article is expected to pass through the Hubs causing the process to be D+3 and some times D+4. We find that Metro to Non-Metro and Non-Metro to Metro are facing additional delay. This will slowly but surely lead to loss of customers, even though the fall in traffic is not immediate. (Details of Circle wise cases will be submitted separately)

[b] Areas involving Intra-circle areas: The study by us has led to the conclusion that the MNOP's weak link is the intra-circle operations. The conditions preventing L2 Offices close bags directly to different Offices except to those other L2 Offices under the same L1 jurisdiction; as well as the condition that the L1 Hubs will close letters only to other L1 Hubs and not to any L2 Offices other than those L2 offices under its own jurisdiction is causing unnecessary back routing. This has increased the time of transmission and causing one day additional delay in delivery at the least, if not more. The Department knows very well that more than 75% letters are meant for other districts and the closing of bags only through L1 Hub will only cause delay in transmission and delivery.

[c] Our experience at Hyderabad and Bangalore Cities, where certain experimentations were made by the Department despite our stiff resistance, clearly show that the MNOP was a failure. In fact no one can say as to how much volume of mails is in deposit and from which date the bags are lying unopened. The Administration was forced to open temporary sorting offices to clear the accumulated mails. In addition to that move, thousands of bags are being dumped to major DSOs like Vijayawada etc by engaging private transportation incurring huge and wasteful expenditure as freight charges because there are no spaces available in the Sections in Hyderabad. We find no accountability at all.

[d] The Department is aware that in the past also certain measures of centralization of mails was undertaken but after experimenting failures reverted back to DSO system. Now once again going back to Regional Hubs in the name of MNOP is not going to improve the efficiency at all levels. May be Metro to Metro area may witness some improvement but even there some problems are witnessed.(List will be submitted separately)

[e] The existing system permits closing of direct bags by any DSO at times of bulk booking to some addressees like Recruitment of Jobs or Application for Medical or Engineering College admission etc. Recruitment Boards will get thousands and thousands of registered or speed post articles. The new system under MNOP involves unnecessary extra handling involving delay in delivery. This is totally unscientific. The motto has to be quicker and efficient delivery at the earliest and not following some rigid routes prescribed by MNOP.

[f] Areas involving delivery within the same Metro City also not above board. For example hundreds of speed Post articles posted in various Post Offices of Metro Cities like Chennai, Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Pune etc is not being delivered to addresses in the same Metro Cities within the same day. If Speed Post Articles booked in Business Post Centres in Metro Cities can be delivered on the same day and speed post articles booked at Post Offices cannot be delivered like that, then there is only one reason for that. The BPCs are closing direct bags and Post Offices are routing through Hubs. This is to show that closing direct bag system is more efficient than routing through blindly to Hubs.

[g] Even selection of L1 offices are inadequate and unscientifically kept very limited in number in many circles. More number of revenue districts is brought under a single L1 Hub that causes delay inevitably due to unnecessary back routings through Hubs.

[h] There is a tendency seen at the time of discussions in June-July that the department should care more for metro to metro mails only since that constitutes more than 70%. This is a disturbing trend. Unlike profit motive Couriers, India Post is wedded to Universal Service Obligations that insists transmission of letter mail communication at affordable cost to poor people living everywhere. The recent approach of the Administration shows a bias in favour of metro customers and ignores or sidelines the customers in non-metro areas. This type of discrimination cannot be shown by the DoP and it can be seen that MNOP encourages this type of discrimination between the urban and rural customers.

4.The staff side was told during June-July negotiations that the existing Bulk Mail Centres [BMCs] and Business Post Centres [BPCs] will be fully brought under RMS. This Federation further wants to elicit as to how this fusion is being planned? Whether the mails handled by these BMCs and BPCs will go directly to L1 or will go to L2 according to the places? Moreover we want to know as to how the pre-mailing work being carried out in BPCs will be looked after? At present the contractorised workers are being used to do all such work in BPCs and BMCs and what will happen to the pre-mailing work in particular in future? If pre-mailing is given up it may result in loss of customers and steep reduction of traffic.

5.The Staff Side was already assured during the June-July discussions that all the Speed Post Hubs will function only under the control of RMS and any existing speed post Hub under the control of the SSPOs will be transferred to RMS Control. However, we find that no action in this direction to bring all Speed Post Hubs under the RMS control has been initiated.

6. This Federation is also apprehensive that consequent on introduction of MNOP, the Department will slowly violate the understanding given out during June-July discussions to the staff side as in the past. There was an assurance that no L2 Office will be closed but all existing RMS Sorting Offices either L1 or L2 will be in existence. But there is a wide spread apprehension that once the L1 and L2 system is entrenched, then slowly the L2 offices will be closed down one by one by resorting to dubious methodology of diverting the mails to L1 instead of L2 offices. Such method was used in some places to bring down the traffic below 10,000 deliberately to facilitate closing of those offices in the past to circumvent the agreement reached by the Department with the Staff Side.

7. This Federation is aware of the modus operandi of McKinsey through our international experience. In many industries McKinsey recommendations resulted in large scale outsourcing etc. Similarly the MNOP for RMS and similar such proposal for Delivery Hubs etc in the Postal Side will result in destruction of RMS offices in particular. Large scale closure or merger of offices may result in large scale surplus of RMS staff causing hardships to them. This Federation therefore wants to know the reaction of the Department as to whether it is considering our earlier understanding of keeping 10,000 volume of mails offices in-tact is revisited with a revised target of 5000 mail volume and that only those offices where the reduction will be below 5000, the men and materials will be merged with the nearest RMS office and under no condition the men and material of RMS will be shifted to Post Offices. The approach of the Department to this question will show light on the nature of actual recommendations of McKinsey, which is not made available to the staff side so far.

8.This Federation therefore suggests that the staff side may be taken into confidence before going ahead with the disastrous M.N.O.P. experiment and till such time the whole sale operationalization of Hub System be kept in abeyance.

Friday, August 26, 2011

The undersigned is directed to say that a RTI query regarding settlement of deceased claim when deposit is payable two or more nominees and either of them is dead was referred to Min. of Finance (DEA) for clarification as there is no such provision in SCSS Rules 2004.

2.The Ministry of Finance (DEA) vide its O.M.No. 15/1/2009/NS-II dated 02.08.2011 has clarified that in such case, the deposit shall be paid to the surviving nominee.

3.It is requested that this may be circulated to all post offices for information and necessary guidance to deal with such claim cases.

The Government is considering a set of proposals to cut the time taken to penalise delinquent Government officials including sacking of officials found to be involved in corruption.

The Government had appointed a three member Committee of Experts to examine and suggest measures to expedite the process involved in Disciplinary/Vigilance Proceedings. The Committee has made a number of recommendations aimed at reducing time taken in conducting and concluding disciplinary proceedings against government servants. In its Report, the Committee has recommended :

·Creation of panels of Inquiry Officers from amongst both serving and retired government servants and enhancement of remuneration for conducting inquiries;

·Prescribing a time limit of two months for completion of minor penalty disciplinary inquiries and 12 months for major penalty disciplinary inquiries;

·Dispensing with second stage consultation with CVC;

·Dispensing with consultation with UPSC in minor penalty disciplinary cases;

·Setting up of Vigilance Commissions with statutory status in the States;

·Introduction of Plea-Bargaining in major penalty disciplinary inquiries;

·Major penalty of compulsory retirement to include cut in pension/gratuity;

·Amendment of Article 311 of the Constitution to provide for dismissal from service on charges of corrupt practices after beginning of trial in a competent court;

The Report of Committee is under examination.

This was stated by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Shri. V. Narayanasamy in written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha today.

Saturday, August 20, 2011

CONFEDERETION CHARTER OF DEMANDS

EXPLANATORY NOTE

1. Stop price rise and strengthen the PDS.

The Economic crisis in nineties caused by the indiscriminate borrowings indulged in by the then Government of Indiafrom the world bodies like IMF World Bank etc. and the adherence totheir conditionalities created a conducive climate for the proponentsand champions of market economy to advocate the globalization path of economic development. The State began to withdraw itself from varioussectors and the least governance was considered as the virtue andsynonym for good Government. In other words, the Government withdrewitself from the concept of welfare State governance and opted for faster economic development through privatization, liberalization andglobalization. The agony and misery of common multitude, theconsequence of adoption of market economy was considered by the rulersas the price to be paid in the process. The various subsidies provided to ensure that the essential commodities needed for humanexistence is made available to the common people was treated asprofligacy and concerted efforts were made to cut them drasticallythrough budgetary proposals. The media, both print and electronic, which had gone into the hands of large corporate houses propagated theliberalization and globalization policies to the hilt and inside theParliament various legislations were moved and enacted by the rulingclass ably supported by almost all opposition parties, barring of course the Left parties.

The Working class organizations except those affiliated to INTUC and BMS realizing the dangerous impact of the neo-liberaleconomic policies organized resistance through strike and otherdemonstrative actions. Between the period 1991 and 2010, thesponsoring committee of Central Trade Unions along with the different Federations of employees organized strike actions on 13 occasionswhich indeed made deleterious impact over the pace with which theIndian ruling class wanted to usher in these policies. Not only thecommon people, but also the intellectual and the middle classes had to admit, albeit reluctantly, that but for the consistent opposition ofthe left parties and the working class organizations, the globalfinancial crisis that engulfed the American and European Continentsand many other parts of the world would have destroyed the Indian economy. To tide over disastrous ripples it created in the IndianEconomy, the Government had to make outflow of crores of rupees in thename of bail-out packages to Indian Industry and corporate entities.Once the crisis blew over, the Government went back to its good old ways of implementing these discredited policies with a vengeance.

The unbridled accumulation of wealth in a few hands, the cardinal consequence of the capitalist economic development bringabout a pyramidal society giving no room for the poor people at thebase even to eke out an existence. This aspect became more and morepronounced over the years and reached a stage that it became impossible for anybody who is supposed to be representing the workersto continue to ignore this phenomenon. Those organizations which hadtaken a contradictory stand against the sponsoring committee had tocome together to voice their concern against the marginalization of the working people. Both BMS and INTUC had to join in the concertedefforts of the workers to oppose, if not the policies, at least themanifestation of it, i.e the escalation of prices of essentialcommodities. The inflationary impact in the economy created by the pursuance of the neo-liberal economic policies rather engineered wasconceived to effect transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich. Itreached an intolerable stage in as much as its incremental rate fromquarter to quarter was in two digits .Never in the past has it assumed the dimension of today with the result that all oppositionpolitical parties in the country had to rally round inside and outsidethe Parliament to denounce the Government of inaction and the5thAugust, 2010 Nationwide bandh became total and resonant. In the immediate years after independence, in order toensure food security to the people of India, the Indian ruling classunder pressure created the universal public distribution system forfood articles. It became an effective instrument in the years to contain the artificial rise of market prices of essential commoditiesespecially in the face of hoarding and black market operations ofunscrupulous traders. The sweep and range of commodities madeavailable through these outlets, known as ration shops in the common parlance even though beset with innumerable problems connected withleakages and corruption, was the most effective welfare measure of theGovernment of India, which in no small degree arrested and stopped thestarvation death in rural India. The advent of neo liberal economic policies ensured that this singular welfare measure of universalpublic distribution system was discarded.Both inside and outside Parliament our Present day rulersadvocated that the higher prices are inevitable given the shortfall in domestic production and due to prevailing higher prices of rice,wheat, pulses and edible oil in international market. Far from truththe statement of under production was, as the production offood-grains in 2006-07 in our country was 9.3 cr. tonnes, 9.6 crores in 2007-08 and 9.9 crores in 2008-09 despite the fact that ourinvestment in agricultural sector in the last ten years was less than2% of the GDP and constantly year after year the Government had beenwithdrawing subsidy to the farm sector. To ensure that the universal PDS is in operation, and the peasants doget remunerative price for their produce, the Government had created abuffer stock of food-grains through the FCI. The statutory norm fixedwas to have 200 lakh tonnes of wheat and rice as buffer stock. Presently the FCI godowns carry 475 lakhs of food-grains. Of it 3million tones are reported to be rotting for want of space in thewarehouses and rats the beneficiaries. This made the honourableSupreme Court to ask the Government as to why that which cannot be stored properly be distributed to the poor.While dismantling of the PDS destroyed the food securityenjoyed by the poor so far, the permission granted to speculators toindulge in forward trading in food articles with an intent to artificially boost the statistical growth of economy resulted in thesoaring of prices in the market. The fervent appeals made by theinformed public, intelligentsia in the society and theParliamentarians belonging to the left parties to ban forward trading fell in the deaf ears for that would have entailed in the slowing downthe reforms, which course the UPA II Government had vowed tointensify. The present FM is on record to state that taminginflation will lead to blunting the economic growth. Despite the reportedly enviable growth rate of 8 to 9% over the past few years andthe consequent rise in the per capita income of our country, vastmajority of our countrymen have become poorer while the number ofdollar billionaires were doubled. According to Shri Arjun Sengupta report, 77% of Indian population have a daily income of less than Rs.20. And the Tax concessions, deduction and exemptions given away tothose who can afford to pay the levies and taxes was of the order ofRs. 6 lakh crores.

It is on the top of all these, the GOI hiked the petrol prices perhaps the nth time the UPA is in power on the specious pleaof helping the Public Sector Petroleum marketing companies out of theunder recoveries. In the context of IOL making a profit of 10998Crores in 2009-10 and the respective figure for HPCL and BPL being Rs. 544 Cr and 874 crores and the Govt. of India making a neat additionaltax of Rs.86,000 crores (Rs. 110000 Crores minus State share of Rs.24,000 crores), an insensitive Government alone can allow thepetroleum companies to again rise the prices. This being the general scenario which must be of concernto us rather of grave concern, it would be pertinent to note theerosion in our real wages brought about by the unprecedentedescalation of retail prices of commodities of daily consumption. The 6th CPC determined the minimum wage on the basis of the retail pricesof various commodities as existed on 1.01.2006. (Please see page 53 ofthe 6th CPC report). We are, unlike those in the unorganized sectors,in the company of those segment of the working class, who get their wages cost indexed, howsoever, defective, trivial and insufficient itis. Therefore, we get 45% addition to our wages in the form of DA (raised to 51% by the recent hike). From the table given hereunder wecan see that the average rise in the prices of those commodities which are taken for the computation of minimum wage has been of the order of175%.as on 1.9.2010, which is taken the present day rate might furtherescalate

The VI-CPC had recommended the abolition of Gr. D. posts numbering about 9.4 lakhs in the Government of India.. The CPC raised all theGr. D employees existing in the Govt. sector to the status of askilled worker and placed them in Gr. C pay scale. The suggested payscale of the upgraded personnel is analogous to the pre-revised pay of Rs 2750-70-3800-75-4400. In fact the said pay scale was the fourthgrade of pay suggested by the V-CPC for the unskilled workers. Inpara 3.7.7 of the Pay commission recommendations the commission hasobserved that:

"Increasingly' basic work relating to cleaning, sweeping, maintenance etc. is being outsourced. This is a welcome trend that needs to beencouraged by bringing about systematic changing in the existingscheme so that the employees in Govt. are only utilized for requiringa certain levels of skills".

It is a fact that majority of the functions presently carried out by the Gr.D employees across the Board is unskilled. What had actuallybeen done by the Commission is to abolish the unskilled functions inthe Governmental sector to pave way for more and morecontractorisation of these jobs while the existing employees (whose working strength has become less than 50% of the sanctioned strength)might be classified as Gr.C. and assigned to do functions which are ofskilled nature with lesser emoluments than what it could have beeneven as per the V-CPC recommendations. It is therefore, a disastrous recommendation. In the days to come the unskilled nature of jobswould be either outsourced or would be contractorised. Thisrecommendation therefore, is not for the benefit of the existingemployees who are recruited as unskilled workers. Now the recruitment will hereafter become unavailable in the Governmental sector for thosewho are in the lower strata of the society who could not afford or whoare not provided even the primary education even though the universal primary education is stated to be the objective and goal of a welfareGovernment as per our constitution.. In fact they are being punishedfor the social inability or abdication of the responsibility on thepart of the Government to provide them with a decent standard of living or the nascent requirement of primary education. Therecommendation is therefore, a by-product of the neo-liberal economicpolicies pursued by the Govt. since 1991 which we have been fightingagainst all these years along with other segment of the working class. As has been feared, the Government has now decided toensure that all unskilled jobs are contractorised. The guidelinesissued by the Department of Personnel for the Multi-tasking staffmakes it mandatory that the future recruitees in government service must have a minimum educational qualification of matriculation. Therecruitment will be done through the Staff Selection Commission.These personnel may not be deployed for the unskilled jobs like thatof sweeper, farash, Mali, watchmen etc. These functions would naturally be contractorised. The Department of Personnel has alreadyadvised all concerned to go in for contractorisation of thesefunctions. The workers so recruited by the contractors are not to haveany job security as they will be liable for the hire and fire system. Outsourcing

In the background of the continuing ban on recruitment, many of the Government organizations has resorted to outsourcing oftheir functions which are of permanent and perennial nature toagencies on fixed rates. The very fact that the Government has madeavailable funds for the Departmental heads to resort to outsourcing establishes the policy being pursued by the Government. The functionshitherto being carried out by the Group C employees and the Group BNon gazetted are liable to be outsourced. Once the system isestablished, there will be no likelihood of any fresh creation of posts in these cadres. The large scale computerization has helped theoutsourcing as a feasible proposition.

Item No.4 - Revise wages of CGEs with effect from 1.1.2011 and every five years thereafter.

It is in the context of the ever increasing prices and the inaction on the part of the Government to tackle it for it might effectadversely the so-called economic growth and the dearness compensationbeing what it is, the National Council of the Confederation, which metat Mumbai on 2nd Dec 2010, decided to demand the next wage revision immediately. It also took note of the fact that the Government didconcede the demand of the workers in the Central Public SectorUndertakings, rightly so, to revise the wages every five years (2006-2011). In the absence of specific recommendation by the 6th CPC over the period in which the present Pay Structure should be invogue, , it was the unanimous opinion emerged in the deliberationsat the National Council that the wages must be revised without furtherdelay. Besides, the expert body on wage revision of Civil Servants i.e the 5th CPC had categorically stated that an interim wage revision inthe form of merger of DA with Pay must take place as and when the DAcomponent in wages exceeds the 50% limit. As on 1.1.2011, the DA is51%. This apart the Council rightly noted that the Pay Band. Grade pay system brought in the 6th CPC has created anomalies beyond correctionand had been designed and devised to benefit the personnel inGroup. A only services. In our submissions to the Government on the6th CPC recommendations, we had categorically with facts and figures pointed out that the wage increase will tapper off over a periodof 6-7 years and thereafter the wages would begin to compareunfavourably with the one determined by the 5th CPC The Governmentmust come forward to set up an expert committee with staff-side representatives to revise the wages of CGEs immediately.

Item No 5 - Stop the New Pensions Scheme and extend the statutory defined benefit pension to all CGEs irrespective of the date ofrecruitment.

The present defined benefit scheme of pension was introduced replacing the then existing contributory system. As part of the neo liberaleconomic policies, the Government decided to reconvert the same intocontributory and make the fund available for the stock marketoperations. It is the vagaries of the stock market which will determine the pension returns from this fund. Before the introductionof the PFRDA bill, the Government had set up a committee under thechairmanship of Shri Bhattacharya, Chief Secretary of the State ofKarnataka. The bill has been drafted and presented to the Parliament disregarding even the recommendation of the said committee to theeffect that the Govt. should consider introducing a hybrid system bywhich the employees will have a defined benefit, if they choose to besatisfied with the said return and can opt for a higher return through stock exchange investments. The Bill could not be passed in theParliament as the Left Parties took the principled position that theywould not support a proposal detrimental to the interest of theemployees. Despite the non passage of the bill and the consequent absence of a valid law to support the Pension Regulatory authority,the Govt. has converted the existing pension scheme into acontributory one and invested a percentage of the fund so generatedfrom the employees contribution in the Stock market,

Pension is earned by an employee by rendering service and therefore there is no requirement of any payment by the employee for earningpension. This statutory right of the employee is enforceable throughcourts. The Supreme Court has declared pension as one of thefundamental rights. The government should therefore retrace from its avowed position, which is detrimental to the interest of the employeesand ensure that the employees recruited after 1.1.2004 is covered bythe existing statutory defined benefit scheme. The bill which wasearlier introduced in the Parliament got lapsed an d could not be passed for want of a majority as the left parties were opposed to thesame. The Govt. has now sought and obtained the support of BJP andother allies of the NDA. The Bill was reintroduced in the Parliamentin the last session. The introduction itself was opposed by Com. Basudeb Acharya, M.P. and leader of the CPIM in the parliament. Thebill's introduction has to be through voting. With the support of BJPand other parties the bill has now been introduced and would come upfor consideration at the next session of the Parliament.

In the background of the continuing ban on recruitment, most of the departments resorted to recruit persons on daily wage basis. Many ofthem have completed more than a decade in Government service. Theyhad been on the pay roll of the Government to carry out the functionsof a permanent and perennial nature. The resort to recruitment of daily waged workers to carry out the functions which are clearlypermanent and perennial nature is in clear violation of the extantinstruction in the matter. Having elicited their service for the pastseveral years, they should be regularized as permanent employees with all concomitant benefits. Retrenching them to be replaced with freshdaily rated workers is impermissible.

Similar is the case of GDS employees in the Postal Department. This system, a colonial concept ought to have been discarded long timeback. The functions entrusted to the GDS in the Postal Department areof permanent nature. Some of them are required to do more than 8hours work a day. Many of the post offices, especially in rural areas are manned by the GDS and the postmen are required to functioncontinuously for more than 8 hours a day but still paid as a part timeemployee. There should be a system by which these employees who arerecruited as GDS are absorbed as regular employees after a pre determined number of years of service. Another issue pertaining tothe GDS is the unjust denial of the benefit of the raised quantumceiling on bonus calculation. While the Bonus Act was amended by theGovernment, raising the emoluments ceiling for the purpose of calculation of bonus from Rs. 2500 to 3500, it was extended to allcivil servants except the GDS. Most of the GDS has a monthlyemoluments beyond the limit of Rs. 3500. There is no justificationfor denying this benefit to them.

Item No.7 - Remove restriction imposed on compassionate appointment and the discrimination on such appointments between the Railway workers and the other sections of CGES.

On the pretext of the directive of the Supreme Court, Govt. introduced the concept of a 5% ceiling on the compassionate appointment. Thefact was that there had been no such directive from the HonourableSupreme Court. There had been no rhyme or reason for thisstipulation. Despite the repeated discussion on the subject at the National Council and its Standing Committee and the solemn assurancegiven by the Cabinet Secretary in the wake of the last strike action,nothing has been done in this regard to resolve the issue. It ispertinent to mention in this connection that the compassionate appointments in the Railways continue to be operated without any suchceiling. Moreover in the Department of Posts hundreds of compassionateappointment candidates selected by Selection Committee are beingdenied jobs and attempt to oust them is on. Through legal stay orders these candidates known as RRR Candidates are fighting the battle. TheGovernment should withdraw the SLP filed against them and absorb themall as regular employees and withdraw the orders imposing andarbitrary ceiling of 5% and non-consideration of the case of candidates whose applications are pending for more than 3 years.

Item No.8 - Stop the move to introduce the productivity linked wage system; performance related pay; introduce the PLB to all departments; remove the ceiling of emoluments for bonus computation.

The Indian Institute of Management at Ahmedabad, the country's prestigious and prime business school was requested by the 6th CentralPay Commission to go into the question of the feasibility ofintroducing the performance related wage system in civil service. Onbehalf of the Confederation, a delegation had the opportunity to meet the persons incharge of the feasibility study and interact with them. Thedelegation drew the attention of the IIM Ahamedabad of theperformance related wage system introduced in many western countries especially after the Thatcher led conservative Government took theinitiative in this regard. She was of the opinion that the Governmentshould not be in the business and the Governments must be run onbusiness line. Over the years as was the case with many of the reforms she introduced in the U.K. the performance related wage systemalso failed. Same was the fate of many other western countries whofollowed the Thatcher Government. By the time the 6th CPC wanted tointroduce the said methodology of restructuring the wage system in Indian Civil service, the idea had already become discredited by itssheer non performance. Except stating that they were aware of whathas been presented by us, they never made any comment either insupport of in negative. The 6th CPC kept their report confidential as was the case with many such reports which they had commissioned. Nomention is made in the voluminous report of the Commission of the prosand cons of a system which they wanted to introduce.

Our main objection to the so called performance oriented wage system was that it would be seldom based on objectivity. That had been theprima cause of its failure elsewhere. It is mentioned on manyoccasions that the Grade pay attached to the PB must be seen in factas a pay for performance of an individual employees. In other words, it can be withdrawn when it is felt that one has not performed well.It is also stated that the Grade Pay which is more or less 40% is theelement of rise the 6th Pay Commission chose to grant to the civilservants taking into account various factors that had diminished the wage structure of the CGEs since the 5th CPC recommendations wereimplemented. There had been a reduction of staff strength in alldepartments of the Government of India across the board through anexecutive fiat which was issued in 2001 by the NDA Government. It continued till 2009-10. Only one-third of the vacancies were allowedto be filled up. The two thirds were to be abolished. In otherwords, the existing employees were asked to work more, performexponentially as the workload over the period had tremendously increased and the ban on creation of posts ensured that the requiredhands are not allowed to be recruited from the market. This compelledmany departmental heads to outsource the Governmental functions toprivate contractors i.e. the backdoor entry of an unfair labour practice in Governmental sector. The linking of Grade Pay to the socalled performance is nothing but reduction of wages, which we cannotand must not countenance.

The productivity linked bonus system was the result of the long drawn out struggles of Government employees, especially of the Railwaymen.The Railway employees under the banner of NCCRS braved all repressivemeasures of the Government in the indefinite strike action 1974 andthe major issue projected through the struggle was the illegitimacy of denying Bonus to workers in Government establishment. It wasgranted to Railwaymen and Postal workers in 1979 and the others had tofight against the unjust discrimination till 1982-83 when theGovernment had to ultimately extend it to all. The 4th and 5th CPCs went into the matter and their recommendations are quite commendable.They had categorically stated that the PLB must be introduced in allDepartments as it is feasible to measure it in almost all Governmentdepartments. The issue is still pending decision at the Department of Expenditure.. While they assure to discuss the issue to reach afinality whenever the matter is raised in the JCM fora, theExpenditure division of the Finance Ministry had been dilly dallying.The adhoc bonus for 30 days continue for the past two decades without any increase while the PLB wherever it is in operation register anincrease every year. Some of the PLB covered employees were given morethan two months bonus last year. Another issue connected with thebonus payment is the arbitrary emoluments ceiling fixed by the Government of India in the computation of bonus. While most of theemployees receive salary far grater than the restrictive limitspecified in the Bonus Act, the bonus is computed on the notionalamount of Rs. 3500/- The oft repeated question is why must there be a ceiling on bonus when no such ceiling is thought of in the case ofmaking profit,.

ItemNo.9 - Settle all anomalies including the MACP related ones raised in the Departmental and National Anomaly Committees and ensure the functioning of JCM in all departments.

Ever since the 1993 recognition rules were promulgated the JCM as a negotiating forum stopped meeting in various departments andMinistries. The Official side takes one pretext or the other to seethat the councils do not meet and the employees are denied any accessof negotiations of their legitimate demands. The anomalies that had arisen over the recommendations of the 5th CPC were not subjected todiscussion in the JCM at the Departmental levels of many Ministries.This consequently resulted in the non removal of the anomalies. The6th CPC refused to consider any one of these issues and the anomalies were carried forward. These anomalies were reflected in theassigning of Pay Band and Grade pay in many cadres. The Departmentof Expenditure while setting up the anomaly committees defined theterm anomaly differently from what was agreed upon by the Staff Side and the Government (with the Group of Ministers ) in 1997. As per thenew definition the anomaly that has arisen from the recommendations ofthe 5th CPC will not come within the ambit of the anomaly committeesthat are being set up after the 6th CPC. This apart there had been no functioning of the JCM at the Departmental levels in variousMinistries and consequently no anomaly committee has been set up insuch departments. Despite the issue being raised in the NationalAnomaly Committee, and the National Council or Standing committee meetings by the Staff Side, no steps are being taken to address theissue.. The National Anomaly Committee is yet to conclude though morethan a year is passed and the way the deliberations are conductedtherein, it is certain that no positive outcome could be expected form it, especially in the frame work of the definition of the very termanomaly itself.

Item No.10 - Make the right to strike legal

Continuing with the colonial concept of denying the Civil servants the privileges enjoyed by the other sections of the societyis a matter of great distress. Article 309 of the Constitution makesit incumbent upon the Government of India and the ProvincialGovernment to make enactments to regulate the service conditions of the civil servants. The Indian Parliament had no time to make suchenactment. In fact the Indian ruling class wanted no such enactments.The transitory provisions empowering the President of India to makerules till such time the enactment is made has been employed to regulate the service conditions of the Government employees.Once recruited as an employee, the ILO's conventions provide all tradeunion rights. India is a signatory to those conventions. Despite allthese legal and moral obligations on the part of the Government, the Government employees continue to be denied the right to collectivebargaining. No negotiation is worth the meaning, if the employeeshave no right to withdraw their labour in case of a non satisfactoryagreement on their service conditions. It is this legal lacuna which was employed by the Supreme Court to justify the arbitrary dismissalof lakhs of employees by the Tamilnadu State Government when theyresorted to strike action. In the judgment delivered by the SupremeCourt, it was observed that the Government employees do not have any legal, fundamental or moral right to resort to strike action. It isall the more an injustice especially when the Government considersthat strike is a right of the workers in the Public Sector undertakingand that of the private enterprises in the country. It is paramount that the Government employees do have the right to strike in order toforce upon an agreement for better wages and service conditions.

Item No. 11 - Implement all arbitration awards.

It was in the wake of the indefinite strike of the Central Government employees in 1960, the Government thought of having apermanent forum for negotiation of the demands, problems andgrievances of the employees. After prolonged discussion with the thenexisting Federations and Unions, the JCM machinery came into being On important issues like pay, allowances and leave, the Governmentoffered to have arbitration through an independent body in case noagreement could be reached between the organisations and the Governmentafter discussion in the JCM. Initially, the Govt. had been implementing the awards of the Board of Arbitration, which were infavour of the staff. The Staff Side was prohibited to raise the issuefor a prescribed period of time, in case the same has been found notacceptable by the Board of Arbitration. The scenario underwent a drastic change in the last two decades in as much as the Governmentrefused to implement any award and began to refer the same to theconsideration of the Parliament on the specious plea of adverselyaffecting the national economy. There were 16 such awards, which had been referred to the Parliament but in the wake of negotiation, theGovernment agreed to withdraw these cases from the Parliament andfurther negotiate with the Staff Side with a view to reduce thefinancial implications. Several rounds of discussions were held thereafter at the level of the Secretary (Personnel). In most of thecase the staff Side agreed to waive the arrear payments. Despite thesaid gesture, the Government did not think it fit to implement any oneof them except in the case of stenographers, for which orders were later issued. Some of these awards have again come up before theParliament. Give the majority in the Parliament for the ruling party,these awards could be got rejected by the Govt .which if done would bea mockery of the JCM scheme itself. Having lost the case before an independent body of juries, the Government should have the moralcourage to implement the awards.

It is ridiculous that the Overtime allowance of Central Government employees except those in the Railways and Defence to be reckoned withthe pay structure that was obtaining in 1986 i.e. more than 25 yearsback. It is nothing but sheer exploitation of the workers. If anoutsider is employed the same Government pays three times than what is given to a regular employee. If one refuses to work beyond officehears, the colonial rules comes into operation. He might face fordisobedience even dismissal. The matter was as per the jointconsultative machinery scheme before the Board of Arbitration. The Government pleaded fervently but so feeble was their argument that thehonourable members of the Board of Arbitration ruled that the OTA mustbe based on the actual salary one received at the relevant point oftime. Elsewhere we have narrated the story of the awards of Arbitration in the hands of the present Government. They are nowseeking the Parliamentary mandate to reject this just and reasonableaward in the name of national economy. The pittance given to theemployees for extracting work is considered as a drain on the economy while they merrily go around indulging in profligacy. The same is thecase with the Night duty allowance. The rate of interest in the caseof GPF was reduced from 12% to 8% under the specious plea that thebank rate of interest had been reduced as part of the new economic regime. It was assured that as and when the bank rates are raised itwould automatically follow. The Bank rates had to be raised.Presently an investment in any nationalised bank beyond 500 daysfetches an interest of more than 10% and the GPF deposit is for the service life of an individual, spanning in many cases for more than35 years. It is high time that the Government is compelled to restorethe rate of interest on GPF back to 12% p.a.

Another issue is the stitching charges. The Government refuses to recognise the need to revise the rates. The market rates are almost 4to 5 time what the employee gets reimbursed from the Government.Given the fact that most of the uniformed personnel are at the lowerlevels of the hierarchy, it is cruel that the Government extracts money from them for being in service, the condition of which is theyare to perform duties wearing the prescribed uniform.

Item No. 13 - Merge DA with pay for all purposes including pension as and when the DA rate crosses the 50% mark.

As on Ist January, 2011, the CGES are entitled to dearness compensation at the rate of 51% of their pay. As has been pointed outelsewhere in this memorandum the said compensation computed on thebasis of what the Labour Ministry calls the All India average ofconsumer price index is miles away from the real prices that rule the market on commodities that goes into the basket of minimum wage. Inmost of the countries, the wages are price indexed on a year to yearbasis. However, we adopted a system of allowance called the Dearnessallowance to compensate the wage earners for erosion of the real value of their wages through escalation of market prices. The successivePay commissions have recognised the need for merging the DA componentwith the pay so that the allowances which are reckoned with referenceto basic pay could be enhanced as otherwise it would be a drain on the wages of the worker. The 2nd CPC recommended for such merger when theCPI crosses over 272 points. The 3rd CPC merged the DA at 320 pointsand the IV CPC at 568. The 5th CPC suggested that as and when theDA percentage reaches the 50% mark, it must be merged and the allowances to be computed on Pay with the merged portion of DA. Thisrecommendation was accepted by the Government and the DA was mergedaccordingly. The 6th CPC however departed from this principle andrecommended that as and when the DA percentage exceeds 50%, all allowances are to be raised by 25%. There appears to be no rationalebehind this decision except that they intended that no wage revisionshould be automatic and any compensation due to inflation must bebeneficial to the employer and not the workers. No specific time frame has been suggested by the 6th CPC to revise the wages.Elsewhere in this memorandum we have detailed the rationale andjustification for a periodical wage revision once in five years. Evenif the DA is merged we could see that it would not compensate the workers for the great erosion that has already taken place in the realwages. So, the 25% compensation must not be acceptable and the leastthe Govt. Could do is to order for the merger of the 50% DA with thePay, which would be in consonance with the principle evolved through successive Pay Commissions.

Item No. 14. - Vacate All Trade Union victimization.

Vindictive actions against the Trade Union workers are as old as the collective bargaining itself. In the post Independent India, thetrade union history is full of such atrocious behaviour on the partof the employers. The Govt. Of India had been in the forefront ofsuch uncivilised action in the Sixties and Seventies. There had been terrific repression of the Union activists whenever the CGEs organisedcollective actions. The indefinite strike action of 1960, the one daytoken strike of 1968 and the great Railway Workers strike in 1974resulted in unprecedented brutal suppressive measures against the leaders. Thousands of employees lost their job, good number of themwas brutally killed and thousands were proceeded against undervarious rules and regulations, conceived and put in the rule book bythe colonial rulers. It is to the credit of those courageous comrades who sacrificed their life and career that the Trade Unionmovement is what it is today. It is the demand for vacation of allvindictive actions that is more important and more significant thanany in the charter. Without resisting and defeating all nefarious attempts of the bureaucracy in this direction, we may not be able tosustain or build up a militant movement, which is the pre requisitefor onward march. Presently one of the founding affiliate of theConfederation the All India Audit and Accounts Association is facing numerous vindictive actions initiated by the Audit bureaucracy. Withthe committed and united action of the entirety of the Central Govt.Em0ployees, we shall ensure that the vindictive actions wherever ittakes place will be got vacated.